The Many Saints of Newark

Locations
Call Number: Blu-ray Drama Many
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Originally released as a motion picture in 2021.
Wide screen.
Michael Gandolfini, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Billy Magnussen, Corey Stoll, Alessandro Nivola, Ray Liotta, John Magaro, Leslie Odom Jr..
Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark's history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters begin to rise and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family₂s hold over the increasingly race-torn city. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, who struggles to manage both his professional and personal responsibilities, and whose influence over his nephew will help make the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss later known as Tony Soprano.
Blu-ray, wide screen; requires Blu-ray player.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

you've seen one stupid mob movie, you've seen them all. submitted by Tassos on April 9, 2022, 7:29pm try something else.

Doesn't Really Work submitted by Meginator on August 27, 2022, 6:11pm Content Note: This film includes several violent scenes (both physical and gun-related) with significant blood, as well as graphic depictions of domestic violence.

While I haven’t seen “The Sopranos”, I’m broadly familiar with the show and the main character and, accordingly, I feel comfortable saying that this prequel doesn’t convincingly show how Tony Soprano grows into a ruthless mob boss; moreover, it cannot even tell an engaging standalone story in its own right. While the film does have a few storylines that do make continuing progress throughout its runtime, individual scenes just sort of happen without any sense of flow or rhythm and it can be difficult to figure out why the filmmakers decided to place the focus where they do. The character development isn’t nonexistent, exactly, but Tony’s character is all over the place and while the final moments do represent a turning point in his life, the film gives viewers no indication whatsoever of how and why this event changes him. It’s essentially a (non-literal) fade to black, making for a fitting (and probably inadvertent) parallel to the controversial series ending that is no more emotionally satisfying (and possibly less given the expectations for a prequel). I don’t particularly recommend this for anyone but series completists and superfans.